'Muyeongtap' and 'Nalgae' Signs at Cheongwadae

Literature Special Exhibition 'Walking Through Cheongwadae with Yi Sang, Yeom Sang-seop, Hyeon Jin-geon, and Yun Dong-ju'

Mount Bugaksan and Mount Inwangsan near the Blue House, Gyeongbokgung Palace, and the Seochon area have long been major backdrops for the arts. Writers also made these places their bases and left representative works. Lee Sang, Yeom Sang-seop, Hyun Jin-geon, and Yun Dong-ju are notable examples.

Lee Sang spent most of his life at his uncle's house in Tongin-dong, Jongno-gu, which is now the 'Lee Sang's House' memorial. Yeom Sang-seop was born and raised in Chebu-dong, Jongno-gu, where he wrote "Three Generations," a work reflecting the consciousness of Seoul's middle class. Hyun Jin-geon, a reporter for the Dong-A Ilbo, was imprisoned following the incident of erasing the Japanese imperial flag and later settled in Buam-dong, where he wrote "Muyeongtap" and "Heukchi Sangji." Yun Dong-ju boarded at novelist Kim Song's house in Nusaeng-dong, Jongno-gu, during his time at Yonhui Professional School. This is now known as the 'Yun Dong-ju Boarding House.' Among the works he wrote during this period is "Sky, Wind, Star, and Poem," a collection of eighteen poems he transcribed.

The works containing their experiences and thoughts are exhibited at the Blue House's Chunuchuan. This is part of the special literary exhibition "Lee Sang, Yeom Sang-seop, Hyun Jin-geon, Yun Dong-ju, Strolling Around the Blue House," held by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the National Korean Literature Museum, Samsung Publishing Museum, and Yeongin Literature Museum from the 22nd of this month to the 16th of next month. The exhibition showcases covers of representative literary works, including Lee Sang's "Wings," which he illustrated himself, Yeom Sang-seop's "Sunflower" and "Three Generations," "Muyeongtap," and "Sky, Wind, Star, and Poem." It also introduces covers such as "Gaebyeok," featuring Hyun Jin-geon's "A Society That Recommends Drinking" and "A Lucky Day," and Baek Seok's "Deer," which Yun Dong-ju was known to like. Covers of literary works designed by painters active near the Blue House, such as Lee Jung-seop, Park No-su, and Cheon Kyung-ja, are also on display.

Moon Jeong-hee, director of the National Korean Literature Museum, said, "The area around Mount Inwangsan is a major cradle of modern and contemporary Korean literature," adding, "We hope visitors can feel the literary atmosphere and creativity of modern and contemporary writers."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.